---
id: "claim-serving-everyone-fails"
type: "claim"
source_timestamps: ["§ The 4S Framework"]
tags: ["customer-segmentation", "targeting"]
related: ["entity-dunzo", "action-segment-customers-strictly", "contrarian-broad-market-appeal", "ext-porter-generic-strategies"]
confidence: "high"
testable: true
speakers: ["Das Narayandas"]
sources: ["tail1"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-tail1"
originDay: 1
articleStem: "hbr-tail-117-middle-market"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/03/why-companies-dont-compete-in-the-middle-market"
sourceTitle: "Why Companies Don’t Compete in the Middle Market"
---
# Attempting to Serve Everyone Guarantees Failure

**Claim:** In a digital world, trying to serve everyone guarantees that a company will get stuck in the middle. [[entity-das-narayandas]] cites [[entity-dunzo]] as the primary example: by attempting to serve everyone in urban India who valued convenience, Dunzo failed to pick a specific segment whose needs aligned with a sustainable, scalable operating model, producing a complex cost structure and eventual bankruptcy. The prescriptive antidote is [[action-segment-customers-strictly]].

**Confidence:** high (author's stance). **Testable:** yes — via survival/margin outcomes of broad-scope vs. focused-segment entrants.

**Enrichment assessment:** the Dunzo case fits established theory — Porter's 'stuck in the middle' warning against being both low-cost and differentiated without a clear strategy (see [[ext-porter-generic-strategies]] and [[contrarian-broad-market-appeal]]). But the unconditional word **'guarantees'** exceeds the evidence: many mass-market brands survive with breadth via scale, brand, and tiered offerings. A literature-grounded restatement: *trying to serve everyone greatly increases the risk of being stuck in the middle with weak unit economics.*